Dark Ones
' ' The '''Dark Ones (in original Russian the Blacks (Чёрные)) are sentient humanoid creatures that descended from humans that survived the nuclear holocaust and adapted to this new post-apocalyptic world. The player rarely encounters them during the game and they are essentially the most difficult enemy, mainly due to their telepathic abilities. They are physically quite weak, capable of being taken down with 5 shots from a revolver, as seen during Artyom's confrontation at the top of the Ostankino Tower. Little is known about the Dark Ones, but there are many rumors, stories, and theories surrounding them. Some people say the Dark Ones were created when a group of Metro residents were kidnapped and taken to their hidden lair. Others believe that they are the next step in human evolution (Homo Novus), and others still think that they are a new subspecies of Homo Sapiens and therefore our closest relatives. There is a legend that the Dark Ones want to have peace with their human brothers and sisters and be reunited as one people. Morphology, Appearance, and Evolution The direct appearance of a Dark One is quite strange. They have long arms and legs, all quite thin. The arms ends large hands has long fingers. The skin color, just like many other mutants is a dark,ash grey color. Despite their physical appearances the Dark Ones are very closely related to Humans, in terms of biology. However, the Dark Ones are much better adapted to the recently ravaged post-apocalyptic world. They are highly resistant to radiation, cold temperatures, and have extra-sensory perception. They look weaker than other mutants, but the Dark Ones have extremely powerful telepathic powers and seem to be able to exert some telepathic control over other mutants. However, the Dark Ones seem to have a hard time controlling the mind of other sentient beings, like Humans, who have the will power to fight off their telepathic influence. The Dark Ones are not capable of vocal communication, but they are able to communicate telepathically amongst themselves and with other beings. However, their telepathic powers are too strong for humans, and if they try to communicate with them without properly controlling these powers, they will inadvertently destroy the mind of the human who will slowly slip into insanity and die. They are able to create realistic illusions by manipulating the mind of their target, or sending him into a dream-like state. They are able to induce fear telepathically to scare their enemies away and they are also able to literally “think” their enemies to death or into a comatose state. Some people believe that they are the next step in human evolution (Homo Novus). Others, however, think that they are new subspecies of the genus Homo and our closest living relatives, just like the Neanderthals where. Origin Dark Ones are descended from the few human survivors who were trapped in a Metro station called Kievskaya in Moscow, Russia. According to legend, there was an explosion, which buried the people in this station alive, and that these people survived. When they emerged from the station, they no longer resembled humans, radiation and large number of different bio-weapons (mutagens and such) that were released during the war have been leaking into the damaged station and mutated the surviving inhabits into the mysterious beings who the other Metro inhabits call the Dark Ones. Trivia *"Homo Novus" means "New Man" in Latin, and was a term used by Romans. *Dark Ones have extreme telepathic power, there are many examples of this shown throughout the game. Examples are telepathically speaking to the player, being able to manipulate Artyom's mind, or sending him into a dream-like state. In these later visons they can be heard talking to Artyom saying that all they want is to help and understand him. *It is likely, that they used Artyom as an "ambassador" in order to convince the other humans to agree to a ceasefire or an alliance between both species in order to reestablish human supremacy over the world. However this is just a conjecture. In the novel it is stated that Men and the Dark Ones are meant to live in a symbiotic society. *The first encounter (seen to the left) of a Dark One is actually of its Ghost. Artyom collides with it on Chase (Level) and enters its mind games, seeing Hunter shoot it. This means that Hunter killed this Dark One at some point entering/leaving Exhibition, and it's infinitely reliving its final moments. *Several Dark Ones can be seen the the Dead City. In the level Dead city 1 after the incident of trying to jump the gap you enter the building and go up several flights of stairs. At the top you go left into an office space where you experience an 'audio flashback' of sorts. If the player rushes through the bathroom then into a corridor they can see a Dark One who will quickly speed away. Later in the level when entering the courtyard where the playground is when you come out of the vision sometimes a Dark One can be found sitting on one of the sheds. Shooting it will reportedly detract karma. Finally moving through the gated building and through the demolished metro tunnels towards the ranger hideout, Artyom can see a dark one looking over the body of a stalker where he will find bourbon after moving through to the level Dead city 2. Pictures of all these occurances can be seen below: Darkone1.jpeg|First hidden Dark One in Dead City. DarkOne2.jpeg|Second hidden Dark One in Dead City. DarkOne3.jpeg|The last hidden Dark One in Dead City. Best seen enlarged. Category:Mutants